exec

Execute a command

Syntax
exec [-cl] [-a name] [command [arguments]]
Options
-l Place a dash at the beginning of the zeroth arg passed to command.
(This is what the login program does.)
-c Causes command to be executed with an empty environment.
-a The shell passes name as the zeroth argument to command.

If command is supplied, it replaces the shell without creating a new process. If no command is specified, redirections can be used to affect the current shell environment.

If there are no redirection errors, the return status is zero; otherwise the return status is non-zero.

exec is a bash built in command.

To run an executable file or a shell script from the command line it is often not necessary to use exec at all, just prefix the filename with ./
bash will only search the path not the current working directory for the file.

To execute a program/script in the current working directory use:

./file_nameor
./ScriptName

You might be tempted to 'fix' this by adding '.' to $PATH but this is widely considered to be a bad idea for security reasons.

"In art the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire" ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Related:

exit - Exit the shellbuiltin - Run a shell builtincrontab - Schedule a command to run at a later timechroot - Run a command with a different root directoryif - Conditionally perform a commandnohup - Run a command immune to hangupsRun a bash script.source
- Run commands from a file su - Run a command with substitute user and group idtype - Describe a command watch - Execute/display a program periodically
Equivalent Windows command: START /
CMD - Start a new CMD shell